There are many applications in which thin films are desired which have a crystalline content, either being entirely composed of a crystalline phase, or contain a mixture of crystalline phase and other phases, such as an amorphous phase. Several examples of such films follow.
For example, one application is silicon thin film solar cells. There has been much research concerning the use of microcrystalline (sometimes referred to as nanocrystalline or polycrystalline) silicon thin films as a candidate absorber layer in thin film photovoltaic cells. Microcrystalline silicon thin films are generally a mixed phase silicon film containing both small grain silicon crystals and amorphous phase silicon. Solar cells fabricated from this material have shown very promising results in terms of energy conversion efficiency; consequently, a method to fabricate them at an economic rate is strongly desired.
Another example is thin film transparent electrically conductive oxides (TCOs), such as indium tin oxide (ITO) and such as zinc oxide (ZnO). These materials are extensively used in flat panel displays, touch screens, and solar cells. It is strongly desired that TCOs have the highest possible electrical conductivity, which can be achieved by increasing the mobility of the electron and/or hole carriers of these materials. The mobility of these carriers is limited, in part, by the crystalline phase and microstructure of the films. The crystalline phase has a much higher mobility than the amorphous phase, and the mobility of the crystalline phase increases with the size of the crystal grains.